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How did you deal with your post competition as far as your weight gain, body image, confidence, dieting and workout plans?
 
Was it a good or bad experience?
 
I hear a lot of bad experience where women gain back more weight or go through eating disorders and body dismorphia…
 
Please share your experience and any tips you have to offer
 

Anyone???

 This statement you made is key to making a healthy lifelong change.  In preparing for Atlantics this year, I had overworked my body and was exhausted both physically and mentally.  I began to resent the gym because I was looking at it as a chore.  I quickly realized this and when those feelings started to creep up I woudl ask myself “Why are you really doing this? What do you want out of it? Who’s choice is it?” This would help me regain my focus and drive.  I also vowed not to say no to friends when they ask to hang out in fear it would interfere with cardio etc.  I realized that in order to fully appreciate fitness I had to have balance in my life.  Mental health is another aspect of being healthy and fit that we soemtimes forget to tend to until negativity arises.  Without a healthy balance of gym/friends/family depression and anxiety can occur.

While I have never competed, working with eating disorders is something we have to do during our dietetics training.

Many women do have eating disorders after coming off a tough training schedule and it can take time (months to years)  to get back on track with life. I agree with your second post that they have to somehow realize that “they actually have a life” and to take it easy on themselves.



The best advice I have found is keep good friends! they will hopefully let you know when something is wrong and you really need to focus on relaxing (seems like an oxymoron).

I can definitely relate to this. I have learned a lot about competing through trial and error over the past 6 years. My earlier shows, I would eat low carbs for 10 weeks and do millions of minutes of cardio to lean out. The results post show would be a weight gain of 7 pounds within a week, UGH! It’s just that you are so deprived that you eat everything when the show is finally over and then you find you are in the same starving and cardio mode next time around to lose the fat you gained for the next show.
 
Over the years, I have learned that if you want to be a competitor then you truly have to adopt a healthy eating style all year long and stay within 8-10 pounds of your show weight. It’s easier to maintain muscle and look really great on stage. :) Jena

Jgirl
 
I can so relate to your story!!
 
In my first show I had no idea what I was doing… I followed a low carb and low fat diet..
 
I think i ate about 1000 calories a day working out 7 days a week!!! I did crazy amounts of cardio basically eating away at my muscle and damaging my metabolism.
I did not gain much weight after my competition; in fact i maintained my weight. 
 
I guess I had the “figure athlete” eating disorder… I never thought I was fat however i was scared to gain weight and increase my calories because i knew that i damaged my metabolism by doing tons of cardio and eating very low calories with limited cheat meals…
 
Through years of research and understanding my body i learned to make working out and nutrition a lifestyle… I know understand metabolism, macro nutrients and using cardio as a tool by not abusing it. 
 
You are spot on with your comment bellow
 
“Over the years, I have learned that if you want to be a competitor then you truly have to adopt a healthy eating style all year long and stay within 8-10 pounds of your show weight. It’s easier to maintain muscle and look really great on stage”
 

Guess sometimes we have to learn things the hard way to get them right, lol :) Thanks

Exactly!
 
That’s how you grow in life; experiences are what molds people.  I really feel like i changed as a person after my first competition.
I learned so much about myself and developed a passion and a drive to learn about fitness nutrition and making this a life style… I do not regret it one bit…  

I thought this was a very interesting read.. I really believe most figure, fitness and bodybuilding athletes suffer from this..
 
Read this article and let me know your thoughts 
 
 
 
 
 
What is gluttony? 
 
Gluttony is the excessive consumption that deprives another being of a life-giving necessity. Gluttons devour more, leaving others with less. It’s immoderation.
 
Beyond consumption, gluttony describes worship of food and deriving excessive pleasure from it.
 
Gluttony also extends into material goods and other physical pleasures. “-aholic” is the suffix attached to the glutton’s “meal” of choice.
 
Those with excess body fat often carry the burden of gluttony, but weight doesn’t necessarily indicate gluttonous patterns.
“Healthy” eaters can be immoderate too. Just as someone can be angry about the right thing but express it in the wrong way, someone can eat healthy food in a way that is gluttonous.
 
The more natural and necessary the activity (e.g., eating and sex), the more pleasurable it is. If we didn’t get pleasure from eating and procreating, we’d have a population of 100 and suffer from rickets.
 
 
Gluttony creeps in when our desires spiral out of control and get excessive with food. This is challenging in modern society, since our appetite is subject to external authoritative psychological influences. For more, see All About Appetite 
 
 
Why is gluttony important?
 
If someone is preoccupied with food, they tend to neglect relationships with others. This includes relationships with significant others, society and the more intangible dimensions of life. Gluttony resembles any form of disordered eating, since they all reflect disordered relationships.
 
 
Click here for the article and forum discussion
 
 
http://www.muscledog.com/forum/DIET__NUTRITION__SUPPLEMENTS_WOMEN/940/DO_YOU_SUFFER_F-
ROM_GLUTTONY#post6895
 

I really enjoyed this! Thanks :)

=)… its so true.. you need to be strong minded when you compete.. It messes alot of peopel up if you are not prepared..
 
I really think a coach is nessesary.. even if you are an expert..

Speaking of having a coach Laura, it isn’t something I’ve considered in the past; but prepping for this show in July is making me nuts already so I am really thinking about looking into it just for the accountability.

Even having a nutrition coach… an outsider with figure athlete competition experience…
 
Make sure you do you research and find a good coach that does not give out cookie cutter advice… there are sooo many bad coaches out there robbing peoples money… so sad!
 
What are you struggling with?
 

Check out this blog i just posted….
Why Figure Comperitors Suffer in the Long Run
 
This is so interesting and TRUE!! It’s crazy! People think competing is a healthy sport however it could be the complete opposite.
If you higher a cookie cutter trainer and don’t do research on your own then you can become a victim of the bellow information… READ 
 
Top 5 reasons why fitness competitors take much longer to get in shape every single
 
http://www.muscledog.com/blog/view/432/WHY_FIGURE_COMPERITORS_SUFFER_IN_THE_LONG_RUN#